Jaipur fire: Union Petroleum Ministry Committee begins probe

Jaipur, Nov 2: A probe into the Indian Oil depot fire in Jaipur that claimed 11 lives began on Monday with a committee set by Union Petroleum Ministry visiting the site to ascertain the cause of the fire.

The committee is headed by former Chairman and Managing Director of HPCL M B Lal, while other members of the committee are Executive Director of Oil Industry Safety Director (OISD) J P Verma, State''s principal secretary for mining and petroleum Govind Sharma and two experts from oil industry.

The committee will go into the reason behind the fire and would also make recommendations for safety measures to avoid such mishaps in future, which entered its fifth day on Monday.

Officials will also assess the losses, and check the structural damages to the buildings.

So far, nearly five lakh residents in the radius of five- kilometer area around the fire spot have moved to safer locations after it was declared "danger zone".

Among those who were evacuated were all the patients, doctors and staff of a government hospital and engineering and medical students of 10 hostels.

According to Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) sources, a total loss of Rs300 crores has been estimated.

The IOC also said that it would take at least 15-18 months to rebuild the facility in Jaipur.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, the Rajasthan Government will hear a plea on the Government''s failure to control the fire. Both the IOC and the Petroleum Ministry have been named in the plea.

--ANI